one year ago...

It's already been one year since we moved to the Twin Cities...it many ways it seems like a long year and in other ways, it seems like we were just loading up our trailer, van & Jeep.  When I think back to where we were a year ago, it does seem like we've grown & learned & been stretched...

Enjoy a few pictures from last year:

saying goodbye to our Robin Ave. home one last time...

call me nostalgic, but there's something about an empty place that you once you called home...this was our first home as A & K...this is where we hosted many of you...this is where we brought Haven home to...

trying to figure out where to put Haven....

 one of our MANY Lowes trips...again, where to put our kid was always tricky :)

Charlee & Haven breaking in our deck with toys!

Haven getting a first look at her new place...

 loving her new nursery!

We've hosted many friends & family members, painted most rooms, landscaped about every square inch of our yard you possibly can, planted a tree in honor of my Dad, added a swing set, seeded down our garden...I mean, really...you don't want to know our entire list.  Our house feels like a home & it is a great home to raise children in, to host our friends & college kids and to make many more memories throughout the years.

 and we recently just added a pergola to our back patio area courtesy of our friends Eric & Clayton

new wheels

Say goodbye to a faithful car nicknamed "the Hemi" by my dear father....

and say hello to every woman's dream machine...a van!!!

Many of you are thinking:

she's crazy!
that's weird!
vans are NOT cool!
or to quote my sis-in-law..."no one WANTs a van"...

well, yes...actually I do!  Due to the amount of traveling we do, and as we will be adding to our family within 12-14 months (we are adopting recall...no...I'm not pregnant with the gestation time of 1/2 an elephant), it seems like the time was right.  Haven LOVES it & although Arlan still drives around with it like he's driving his race-car, it will hopefully serve our family well.

Friday's Funny~my old Senator

 

'We ... do not believe that discussions about the administration of justice would be less successful were they held somewhere other than a spa and resort in Hawaii.'

U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., in a letter to 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, on a $1 million conference on "improving the administration of justice" that the court planned to hold in Hawaii in August.

published in the June 16, 2012 issue of World Magazine

Now...I'm not saying my current state's senators are any better than this!!!

someone needs this!

10 X 13 Sunsetter motorized awning...great condition-we prefer pergola over patio instead of awning...email ktlovesjc@hotmail.com for more information.

my niece & nephew's debut

Last Friday found Haven and I at the Illinois Preview Show here in Bloomington to cheer on Adam & Amelia as they both showed their first heifers.  While this may NOT seem like a big deal to most cattle folk, these two have a legacy behind them & many shows ahead of them that yell "Angus show world-here I come"! 

They both did GRR-ATE and Adam ended up in the top 3 for pee-wee division showmanship!

Great Job Adam & Amelia...even though Haven slept through the inaugural event, we BOTH are proud of you!

Friday's Funny-GOP humor

Friday's Funny~you gotta love some people

Published in the current issue of WORLD magazine:

Store-bought drinks

It's not being generous if it's with other people's money. Police say a 23-year-old Montreal man robbed a pair of local convenience stores and a video rental company on May 7, walked across the street to a bar, and offered to buy all the patrons free drinks with the roughly $1,000 in stolen loot. After seeing police combing the neighborhood outside, one bartender grew suspicious of the unusual bar patron and alerted authorities, who quickly arrested the man.

http://www.worldmag.com/articles/19507